


take the world back from a heart attack

by defractum (nyargles)



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-11 00:20:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8945143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyargles/pseuds/defractum
Summary: "Osashiburi, Nathaniel," says Kevin, because he is an awful fucking person with a dramatic streak a mile wide. Long time, no see.-AU where they are in a gang.





	

**Author's Note:**

> My tfcsecretsanta gift for sargentsquirrel. I hope you like it!

Neil had thought that he was in Fox territory. The Foxes are a small gang, but they defend their territory fiercely. They're one of the few with a woman as their leader, which means that they've had to publicly show their strength a fair few times now and demonstrate that it doesn't mean that they're easy prey.

Actually, Neil rather admires that about them. That, and the fact that they're relatively welcoming to non-gang members and innocents, not that Neil is one of those, is exactly why he's here in their territory.

These days, Neil tells people he's unaffiliated when they look for whose colours he's wearing. He had deliberately unaffiliated himself with his father's gang, several years ago, and has kept on the move ever since. Pretty much everywhere is gang territory these days, born out of necessity; some are just communities grouping together to do whatever it takes to protect themselves from others eyeing up the extra land and revenue; others are more proactive about their expansion plans.

Neil tends to stick to those that don't care too much about people who drift through and don't stay too long. Neil doesn't stay anywhere too long.

Anyway. The point is: Neil had thought that he was in Fox territory. It turns out that he is wrong.

"Never heard of you," says Neil, clutching his stomach with one hand and keeping a death grip on his duffel bag with the other. He's lying through his teeth, because he fucking has heard of them, and he's kicking himself for not being more careful about whose borders he's been skirting.

The Monsters are an even smaller gang than the Foxes, but they already made a furor when Kevin Day joined their ranks. He'd been the right hand man of the leader of the Ravens, a dominating gang a bit further up north – Neil had very much avoided them on his way down – but these days Kevin's usually seen at the elbow of Andrew Minyard.

"You're a terrible liar," says Minyard himself, who punches Neil again. Neil thinks it's Andrew, but both of the twins are here and they're identical, and it's not like they stopped for introductions. He tries to think about what else he knows about the Monsters.

"I'm just passing through," says Neil. "I don't want any trouble."

"You know," says the tall, dark man the other side of Minyard, "that is really hurtful. We don't want any trouble either. Why would you assume we cause trouble?"

"Nicky," says Minyard, and the guy – Nicky, one presumes – falls silent and pouts.

"Seriously? Every single thing about you guys screams trouble. I'm just getting some food and you appear out of nowhere. You're armed, there's three of you, and we're in a dead end side street," says Neil. "There's even a convenient dumpster for my body."

Nicky looks over. "Oh yeah, so there is. But, okay, look–"

"How did you know we were armed?"

Neil looks over at Minyard, whose face is as flat as his question. "You – I mean. You've got knives."

Minyard lights a cigarette, and inhales. Exhales. The smoke is starting to thin by the time he opens his mouth again. "Most people don't spot the knives."

Neil lifts one shoulder. How does he explain it? He's constantly on the lookout for people who might be sent from his father to catch him, and they're all well trained in using knives. It's a point of pride for the Baltimore gang; they're the ones who turn up to a gunfight with knives and come out the other end. "I know knives."

Minyard raises one eyebrow. "And I know gangbangers."

"I'm not wearing any colours. No allegiances, no affiliations, not spying for anyone. I just want to move on through." Preferably before Kevin fucking Day manages to spot him. Neil ignores the jibe that he looks like a gangster. He might have grown up in that life, and it's hard to ignore the training, the honed battle senses. He's pretty sure he could take the other twin, who looks more bored than threatening, but Andrew's stance is solid, and Neil isn't sure whether Nicky's joviality is an act or not.

"You've been here two weeks," says Andrew, and a wicked chill runs down Neil's spine. He's no one. He's literally a random fucking person off the street who checked into a bog-standard hostel. He could be a tourist, for God's sake. And yet, Andrew Minyard already knows how long he's been here.

"Yeah, and?"

"You're fucking slow at moving on through."

Truth is, Neil tends to stay longer in places where the gangs are more relaxed. He stays out of border conflicts and places with a lot of violence, he skirts around places that do shady shit if he can, but it's just a matter of which ones he can stomach now. "I thought this was Fox territory."

Nicky grins at him. "It is."

"Well now I'm definitely leaving," says Neil, attempting to edge his way towards the main road. "I have no interest in getting caught in a turf war."

"It's not like that," says Nicky. "We share. Kind of."

Andrew Minyard does not look like a person who shares anything. He also looks deeply unimpressed at Neil's unsubtle shuffling. "Grab him," he says, and turns away.

"The fuck?" squawks Nicky, "What do you mean, _grab him_?" He tries, anyway, pulls half-heartedly at Neil's arm, but Neil digs his heels in. Nicky huffs, "Aaron, help me."

"You must be kidding." Aaron leaves Nicky to it, following his brother out of the alleyway.

"You were keen to get out a second ago," says Andrew over his shoulder, presumably to Neil. Neil is a bit busy trying to wrestle Nicky to reply; Nicky doesn't feel trained in fighting, but he's pretty strong and has a good few inches on Neil. He's pretty sure now that if he slugged Nicky, he'd go down, but he'd still have to deal with Andrew, and he doesn't want to give him an excuse to use his knives.

There's a car parked on the road that they're all headed for. The window winds down as Neil scrabbles at Nicky, and a new voice floats out towards them. "What the hell is taking so long?"

Neil freezes. It's the moment of hesitation Nicky needs to yank him forward and practically throw him into the car with a triumphant 'aha!'. The car where Kevin Day is sitting in the passenger seat.

Aaron and Andrew jam Neil in between them. They're compact men, nothing like the type that Neil's father leans towards for muscle, but Neil feels like he's suffocating anyway. "What do you want?"

"Me? Nothing. He's the one so concerned about you," says Andrew, thumping a fist on the back of Kevin's headrest.

" _Osashiburi_ , Nathaniel," says Kevin, because he is an awful fucking person with a dramatic streak a mile wide. _Long time, no see_.

Neil's vision swims. He'd hoped that Kevin wouldn't recognise him. It's been years, after all, and he's got dyed hair and coloured contacts in, but it appears that Kevin noticed him before Neil even knew he'd been found.

"If you're going to throw up, don't do it on me," says Aaron, disgusted, to his side, and that helps ground Neil to the here and the now. He breathes shallowly, and swallows the bile that rose in his throat.

"It's Neil now." His voice is a bit scratchy, but it's more or less normal. It was a triple whammy, seeing Kevin, knowing that he'd been found, and his name, said for the first time in years. Even within the confines of the car, Neil is paranoid about anyone hearing it aloud.

"Naughty, naughty," says Andrew at Neil's side, his elbow and his grin sharp. "You said you didn't have any gang affiliations."

"I _don't,_ " snaps Neil. "If I did, I wouldn't be _here_."

"Found your nerves, I see," says Andrew. Neil blinks. It's true. His stomach is still queasy with nausea and he's keeping a mental tab on what way the car's been going, but for some reason, he's not actually scared of Andrew, or Kevin.

"What do you want?" he repeats.

Kevin twists to look at him for the first time. "Call it a recruitment drive."

Neil catches on instantly, and stares at him in horror. "You want me to join your gang? Are you crazy?"

Kevin looks at him impatiently. "What else are you going to do? Move from city to city, trying to avoid all gangs forever?"

Neil has never really figured things out in the long-term. If he's being honest with himself, which he tries not to do too often, it's because he doesn't really expect to be around in the long term. His father's people will catch up with him, or he'll get caught up in a fight, or he'll run out of money and have to settle down somewhere with a job, or, or, or. There are countless possibilities, and none of them are peaceful resolutions to his problem.

"You could be useful to us," says Kevin. "You know how gangs operate, you've had exposure to the top levels of organisation." Neil doesn't answer him. He was a child when he sat in on his father's business meetings, and he's spent the last few years trying to forget it.

"We're almost there," says Nicky. He pulls into a parking lot for a waffle house; it's late afternoon now, so the place is bustling with teenagers out after school and families with younger children.

Neil stares. He'd been expecting maybe an old warehouse, or a derelict house. But no, they all pile out of the car, Neil following by clutching his bag when Aaron tugs on the other side of it, and they wait in the queue for a booth, behind a family, as if they haven't just turned Neil's world upside down.

"What's your poison?" asks Neil when the waiter walks off with their order, despite himself. He's expecting Kevin to say drugs, maybe, that's an easy one. Or the Ravens were big into human capital and murders, so Kevin might have brought that with him. Andrew certainly looks like he would be capable of killing people for money.

Kevin doesn't answer; he waits for Andrew instead. "Protection."

Neil's eyebrows raise. "You run a protection racket? That's..." He trails off. The Monsters are impressive at the moment because Andrew is intimidating and Kevin has a reputation. He doesn't know how big they are, but it doesn't look like much. Protection rackets require strength and muscle and bullies.

"No, protection," says Andrew. "Don't make me repeat myself."

Neil is hoping for something slightly more useful, but when he waits for a better explanation, Andrew looks out across the restaurant as if this conversation has exhausted his attention span.

"We're a non-profit," says Nicky from behind him. "We keep what's ours, but we're not really into the whole extortion, murder, trafficking gig."

"So why do you need me?"

"We've got expansion plans," says Kevin, and Neil could swear that his voice sounds a little shaky now.

"Expanding to where?"

This time, Kevin's voice is definitely hoarse. "West Virginia."

It only takes Neil a beat. "What the fuck. Oh shit, Kevin. You're talking about taking on the Ravens? One of the most fucking ruthless gangs in the south east? You're talking about taking down Riko Moriyama."

His mind is going crazy trying to digest what Kevin's just told him. If it's true, then even if he stays out of it, there's going to be carnage. The Ravens are prone to destroying anything and everything they perceive to be in their way, regardless of collateral damage, and once one gang challenges them, the rest will follow suit, wanting to slice away at them when they're distracted, hoping to chip away at the power they hold over the south east.

Andrew smiles. "Not so slow after all. Yes, yes, terribly exciting, isn't it? Kevin's still shitting his pants at the thought of it, don't worry."

"You're actually crazy. The entire lot of you. The Ravens are huge! How many of you are there?"

Nicky gestures with one arm. "Welcome to the club."

"This is _it_?!"

"And the Foxes, but yep."

That's right. This must be part of the arrangement they have with the other gang in this area. But still, the Foxes are also a small gang, and the Monsters are. Well, non-existent. They don't even actually do any gang activities, they're just one of those groups that call themselves a gang and keep other gangs from swooping in and taking over their local businesses, schools, community.

"And if I say no?"

"Then you spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder waiting to be caught," says Kevin. "I found you. Others will."

Damn him. Kevin strides off as a waiter gestures for them to follow, and suddenly Andrew is next to Neil, his breath warm on Neil's cheek. "Didn't you hear the first two times? I deal in protection."

Neil shakes his head. "What does that even mean."

"You caught Kevin's attention. Well done, you. If you keep it, I will deal with anyone who comes looking for you." Evidently, gazing off into the distance doesn't mean that Andrew isn't keeping up with the conversation. Neil is more wary of him than the rest put together.

Andrew is watching him with a flat stare, his face too close for comfort, and Neil wonders how this man in front of him convinced Kevin Day to leave the Raven's Nest. Riko's wrath must have been immediate and terrible, and yet he's still here, making plans, impossible plans, to tackle Riko head on.

And damn it, despite all of this, Neil is intrigued. And tired of the running. And –

"Where do I sign," he hears himself say.

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on [tumblr](http://www.defractum.tumblr.com)!


End file.
